


we're far from perfect but so worth it

by harlock



Series: hell isn't where we're going, it's where we've been [2]
Category: Captain Harlock
Genre: Alternate Canon, Developing Relationship, Fluff and Angst, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-03
Updated: 2018-05-03
Packaged: 2019-05-01 12:27:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,114
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14520552
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/harlock/pseuds/harlock
Summary: Alone on theArcadia'sobservation deck, Yama lets the emptiness of space distract him from the wilderness of his heart.





	we're far from perfect but so worth it

Zero gravity could be disorienting. 

The weightlessness made his stomach clench and twist in expectation of the fall, and his body sometimes spasmed when he thought he would hit something out of the corner of his eyes. The empty observation deck—with its wide windows and lack of furniture to clog up the space— had become a tiny sanctuary for Yama to escape, where he'd stuffed blooming plants in nooks and hidden his books to read in small crannies.

It's where he came when his heart was wild in his chest, choking him and flooding his mind with too many thoughts and feelings.

He felt _nothing_ here. 

He let the emptiness of space beyond the wide windows envelope him and the heavy sounds of the _Arcadia_ ’s inner workings wash over him and drown out the noise of his own thoughts. The only light he needed was the planetshine off the outworld they drifted over, a verdant giant they would be visiting the next morning; he was excited for it, to see a new world as yet untouched by the Gaia Coalition.

As he floated around the deck, his drifting mind wondered on the ship's history and the small bit of it the Captain had shared with him. A hundred years without a home, without a resting point and only one goal to live for, he sometimes wandered if the _Arcadia_ was a lonely ship, if the haunted vessel hoped for _home_ in much the same way—

"Yama."

Yama twisted in the air and went a little wide-eyed to see Harlock himself entering the deck, pushing himself off the doors and floating up to meet him. 

Harlock grabbed onto a low-hanging pipe and gently pushed himself towards Yama for the younger man to catch him. The captain slipped an arm around his waist to drag him close as they spun slowly through the air, a gasp escaping Yama as Harlock maneuvered them towards the nearest window and carefully pinned his back to the glass. 

So close they were, he could feel the immortal man's slow, steady heartbeat through his shirt that pulsed in time with the _Arcadia_ 's own heavy rhythm, could see passed the strange and swirling shadows of the dark matter beneath his flesh. It was then he noticed the captain was without his cape, his coat, his _armor_. He'd come as naked as he could be outside the privacy of his own quarters and Yama only felt his heart slam harder in his chest, and his lungs constrict in his ribcage.

To be _trusted_ like this, to learn of the man behind the mask— his hands reached of their own volition, cupping either side of Harlock's neck as a firm hand grasped his hip and the other pressed to the glass to steady them.

"Harlock—" Yama started, only for the soft rasp of Harlock's voice to cut the silence at the same time.

"Are you content here?"

Yama startled, brows knitting in confusion, "Why wouldn't I be?"

Harlock tilted his head just so, both curiosity and mild uncertainty flitting across his face; Yama felt the movement in the subtle shift of muscles in his shoulder and neck, and privately marveled at the strength hidden in every line of his Captain's body, "The death of your brother and the woman, Nami. The loss of your home..."

It was Yama's turn to shrug, a tiny wry smile tugging at his chapped lips, " _Home_ can mean a lot of things, it doesn't have to be a single place."

Yama brushed his thumb against Harlock's pulse, the haunting beat of it a strange and welcome comfort, "It can be a planet, a city, or a ship," the corners of his mouth edged into a familiar smile, one that only seemed to appear when Harlock was at his most exasperating, " _Home_ could even be a person. As for _them_..."

His brows furrowed slightly, and he looked away from the intensity of Harlock's single gaze as he tried to find the worlds to describe the mess of feelings tangled in his heart, "I have time to think about that."

Harlock watched him carefully throughout, his scarred features open and neutral. He released Yama's hip and brought his hand to the younger man's jaw, tracing it with naked and callous-smoothed fingertips, noting the tension releasing little by little in his chosen successor's shoulders. He slipped his hand back and threaded his fingers in Yama's thick brown hair, the glide of the soft strands against his skin sent an odd tingling sensation up his arm. 

To feel this, to learn of simple little sensations, to know these tiny pleasures again made him feel human for the first time in decades. In giving Yama the option to stay and the younger man choosing to remain, it breathed new life into _Arcadia_ 's cold steel corridors and filled Harlock with a warmth he'd thought lost forever after the death of his dearest friend. 

In the months since the reveal of Earth's darkest truth and the Gaia Sanction's fall from grace to chaos, the crew had done as much exploring as they did pirating, charting the fringes of the galaxy for their own records and archives, and to encourage Yama to pursue his dream of botany. But with his new duties as Captain and with Harlock's quiet guidance, Yama had flourished and grown, and gained a confidence in himself that Harlock had only seen snatches of beforehand.

One thing they never lacked was battle action, fighting off the last vestiges of the Gaia Fleet while the tendrils of a new rebellion reached far and wide across the galaxy among the remnants of humanity. The people were sick of the lies, sick of the oppressive nature of the Gaia Sanction's ruling elite; they wanted _change_.

(Even if nothing did change, doesn't meant Harlock wouldn't _stop_.)

"Hey, where'd you go?" Yama murmured, slipping his arms loosely around Harlock's neck to bring him in again.

Harlock pressed closer, one arm sliding around Yama's waist and smoothing his free hand up the younger's back, "Thinking."

He leaned in to seal his mouth with a kiss before Yama could say anything more. The slow, lazy slide of lips was thankfully enough to distract his partner, earning him a soft little moan and a hand tangling in his hair. It felt good to have this, to know he could keep this and that the potential for _eternity_ was there.

Yama only pulled away to quietly demand they take this elsewhere, and Harlock was more than willing to oblige him.

(And if the _Arcadia_ made a pleased hum that echoed throughout the corridors, both captains ignored it on principle.)

 -


End file.
